Lost Kitten

Yesterday we let our cat Sam out the back door to play in our small yard. Normally, he hangs out there and occasionally climbs over the back fence and sits in our neighbor's yard until we come to rescue him (he cannot climb back over the fence for some reason). Well, yesterday after about an hour, Mike went out back to check on him and he was gone! He wasn't in our neighbor's yard, he wasn't in the alley next to our house, he was no where to be seen.

We thought we would give him a little bit to play and then we would find him somewhere close and bring him in. But when we went back out, he was still gone. We started to panic a little, because he is still a kitten and he is such a baby. We were worried he would get stuck somewhere or get beat up by one of the neighborhood cats. We searched the neighborhood, calling his name, but he never came out. We were most worried about finding him before dark because it was supposed to get down to 24 degrees last night.

When he didn't come home by dinner time, we started to think the worst. Mike was convinced he ran away. I was worried he was hurt or that someone stole him (even though he wears a collar). We kept calling him and searching our block for him.

Finally, around 10:00, Mocha jumped off the couch and ran to the back door. Mike got up to let her out, and guess who ran inside?! Sam came home! He was hungry and thirsty, but he seemed alright otherwise. I have never been so happy to see him.

Needless to say, today he is stuck inside. We work the 3-11pm shift tonight so we can't have him out wandering the neighborhood. Plus, he is not neutered yet, so we don't want him out becoming someone's baby daddy.